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REA’s profit slips 9%, with group thankful not to have been ‘catastrophically’ hit by COVID-19

REA Group’s revenue for the 2020 financial year was down 6% to $820.3m, and net profit down 9% to $268.9m.

The group noted it had, like most businesses, been hit by the challenging market conditions created by COVID-19, but that it had not been catastrophic for its bottom line and nor did it need to access government assistance.

No employees, the company said, had been stood down or asked to reduce their pay. Instead, the remuneration report confirmed there has been “a very small number of employees” who had their positions made redundant.

Salary costs were $168.763m for 2020 financial year, relatively steady with last year’s $168.601m. Total employee benefits cost the company $190.199m, up marginally from $185.778m in the 2019 financial year. CEO Owen Wilson took home a total salary package of $1.783m, down slightly on last year’s $1.974m.Chairman Hamish McLennan’s salary package was stable at $495,012 (up from $495,000 last year).

REA Group’s marketing-related expenses fell from $75.048m to $64.964m. It also noted there had not yet been any large real estate businesses which had gone under, and the organisation was doing what it could to stimulate the property market, protect its customers’ businesses, and support the property sector.

REA Group’s FY2020 performance [Click to enlarge]

In Australia, revenue from media, data and other declined 19%, with lower volumes of new project commencements leading to less developer display advertising.

Wilson said he was proud of the way the group had responded to this year’s challenges.

REA’s performance over time [Click to enlarge]

REA said it maintained its market leading position above Domain.

REA Group’s highlights for the year [Click to enlarge]

“The property market has shown great resilience, bouncing back from the lows of COVID-19, however, the extent of recovery is still dependent on the efforts to contain the virus and the outlook for the underlying economy,” Wilson said. “We have a strong balance sheet, a talented workforce and a loyal audience which will see us emerge an even stronger business once more normal conditions return.”

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